What was, What is, What will be....: 2006

Merry Christmas!!

After lots of tracing papers, cardboards, sticky glue and glitters:

Well the picture says it all... Merry Christmas everybody!!

Hubby secretly arranged with Dave to bring me and Anna to celebrate Christmas with an early Christmas dinner last Sunday. A week before, he hinted that he's gonna bring me somewhere special, that it'll be a pleasant suprise.
On that day, we headed to VivoCity, to do some christmas shopping. Our first stop was Crocs. If you've read hubby's blog, you'd know of his obssesion in getting a pair. I promised him those for Christmas present. So there we were, in the shop, which was packed with people by the way, and hubby tried the sandals (do you call them sandals?) on. After weeks of declaring that he definitely wants a pair of Crocs, he decided it doesn't look that good anyway. So we left the shop empty handed. Lol.
By then it was raining cats and dogs outside. And Hubby told me that there may be a change in dinner plans. He said there's no point in going where he planned to go if it continues raining....

Well, we managed to get a christmas present for my dad. A Man U T-shirt, which Aaron chose.
Looked around, and couldn't find anything suitable for my mum... When into Guess! and they were having 30% storewide. I just got Jo a Guess! handbag in Malaysia the previous Sunday. It costs RM299. Saw the exact same one but of different colour in Vivo. It's $169 with 30%... oh well...

By 6pm, the rain seems to have stop, so we decided to proceed with the dinner plan. Me and Anna still have no idea where were we going. Hubby drove up to Mount Faber. This is the place where we went for our first date. It's also here he proposed.
He stopped in front of The Jewel Box, a restaurant uphill.

By then it had started raining again. It was only after we were seated, indoors, that he revealed that they actually have a snow show, but due to the rain that it may be cancelled. Well, the ambience was really nice, and we thought even if we couldn't see the snow, it'll still be great. The snowing was suppose to start at 8pm, by then it was 7.30pm and the rain seems to be getting heavier. We requested to be seated outdoors. On the days that when it's not raining, you would get a clear view for Sentosa. Very panaromic indeed.. and romantic too.

So we ordered our food. The menu's rather limited, but the food's good. We shared among ourselves a plate of Foie Gras. My first time trying and I must say it tasted good! Much better than a pate but oh so sinful... So there we were, enjoying our food, we didn't realise the rain had slow down, not until when lights suddenly flashes, and guess what? It started to snow!! It was so pretty!!

The snow's made up of foam. It does looks real even close up.

We had fun. It was memorable too. Thanks Hubby baby bunny!!! Love you!

What a Mess..

It's really Christmas soon!! The house have been in a BIG mess the pass month. Anna and me have been finding ways to DIY decorating the house. And being that it's been such a busy month, with the passing of hubby's grandfather and SUE's night tour at Fort Belayar last weekend, we were left with little time to finish the DIYs. Last night, we managed to finish one of them at least, the MERRY CHRISTMAS sign, and I must say it looks quite professionally done. Will post the picture soon.

Hubby's blog covered the details of SUE's first night outing at Fort Belayar. As a member, I too were really proud with the success of the tours. The SUE website will be up soon, we're expecting early next year, and by the look of things, 2007 will be a eventful year for us. We've a number of activities and events lined up. So do check out our website!!

Okie so much for now.. Have to take off for work now.. Will update on the photos of the house soon. Ciao!

A Tribute

" Good evening, I'm the grandson of Mr. Chan Sze Kang. I represent my Auntie Lucy and my Mum. Grandpa was a doting husband, father and grandfather. He was fair, kind and humble. He was devoted to his work and had worked till recently. Even when he was lying ill in his hospital bed, he endured the pain and never complained. Grandpa had never held back his knowledge and was always willing to share.

Grandpa had always pampered grandma and treated her very well. He always made sure that she had the best of everything. Grandma would miss him very dearly.

Auntie Lucy would like me to give a testimony. 5 years ago, Grandpa had a major operation and he told her he almost died. But my aunt prayed for him and with God's grace, he pulled through. In his own words, grandpa told Auntie Lucy that he saw lights at the end of the tunnel, after which, he regained conciousness and he felt himself and realised that he was still alive. Since the incident, he lived healthily for another 5 fulfilling years.

On my mum's part, she feels that grandpa was a very loving father-in-law and had always treated her like his own daughter. Shortly before he passed away, he made my mum promise that she would continue her studies in the japanese language. For the record, grandpa was an expert in the japanese language and culture. He had always led by example that we should all continously improve ourselves and brush up our knowledge.

His illness started just a month ago and he did not suffer much. He was a good man."

-Aaron-
1/12/06
Grandfather's Memorial Service.

The Tree

It's Christmas soon! Hubby promised me a christmas tree last year but we didn't get it because we didn't have a place then. So I've been bugging him since last month to get a tree for this year.
Last weekend, we made plans with Anna and Dave to head over to Geylang to the warehouse christmas tree shop to choose for our tree. We didn't made it there. I wanted to go to Daiso to buy some stuffs for my mum and dad. Mummy came over to stay a few days last month and she fell in love with Daiso. Of the 4 days she was here, we were in Daiso for 2 of them, once in Jurong and once in Plaza Sin.... more on that later..

So we headed to IMM for lunch and Daiso. While walking around, we came across this florist, Steve Florists, and they have the most beautiful christmas tree!! Hubby just couldn't tear his eyes off the trees! Now, these trees are not like the normal ones, they have longer bristles, and the end of the bristles are covered in shiny white glitters.. really reminds you of snow. And get this, the tree comes with pine cones all over it.. how cool is that. It's not the normal plastic christmas trees alright... A quick look in Giant, for the same height, a much more common looking christmas tree doesn't come much cheaper than the nice ones in Steve's. So, me and hubby decided to take the plunge! We got ourselves a six feet tall tree... a tree taller than me! Nice huh..

We spend the rest of Sunday evening decorating the tree... At the end of it, all 4 of us were sweating and covered in glitters, but delighted! Our very first 6 feet tall Christmas tree!!

Blue is our theme this year. To honor Aaron's favourite team... heh..

I was talking about Daiso earlier. I got this really great deal from the store. Ever heard of GelGems? They're this rubber-plastic decorations that you can stick on tiles, mirrors, glass and can be re-use. Check out this site http://www.gelgems.com/

Anyway, I got hold of these in Daiso, a japanese version, and stick them on our bathroom glass door.

There's a lot of blues in the house lately... heh.. Well, these gelgems are really good. Nice to look at, you can stick them anyway you want... and the best thing is, they'll never drop!! Simply great!!

I've bought some tinsels and more decorations yesterday, will update soon.. Ciao!

P/S: Happy Thanksgiving!!

The Beginning of The End

Hubby have had a very rough past two weeks. Friendships were broken and an enemy was made, good friends were re-affirmed and a fresh start for this circle of friends. While these group of people are not my direct friends, I felt their anger, disappointment, and pain through my hubby.

As a third party looking on, I would say that what happened could have been resolved amicably. Instead, a small matter was blown out of poportion. As such, things that were said and done could not be taken back. Heated words were exchanged through blogs, and I, a person who strive for peace, would not have written this had there not been a curse placed.

I sincerely hoped, that the person who cursed his friends did not really mean it, for he should know that when a curse is place, the returns are ten-fold. No, I'm not cursing the person back, this is just a general statement. Whatever that had happened, there is no such need to place a curse, this is a boorish and a crude way to vent one's anger.

While I'm not a superstitious person, a friend had warned that things could get way out of hand, and people might get hurt. So to end this entry, I wouldn't want to see anybody getting hurt, be it my friends or not. I especially, do not want to see my family hurt. So, to that person, whether it was a deliberate act or a moment or foolishness, I hope you don't mean any harm. I would go out of my way to see that what harm that are done would be returned, should it happen. Now, this is not a curse, but a promise.

Seven Things

I've been tagged by Hubby to do this internet meme

7 Random Things About Me
1. I've been here in Singapore since 1998 - that makes it 8 years this year!
2. I'm named after Jaime Sommers, the Bionic Woman, a popular series back in the 1970s. Thus the unique spelling.
3. I lost my two front teeth during the Christmas season when I was 6 or 7, and I won consolation prize in the Little Miss-ing 2 Front Tooth held in my neighbourhood back in KL. The prize was a box of toothpaste and a toothbrush. How ironic...
4. My dad is 1/4 Siamese. His grandma, my great grandma was from Thailand. That makes me 1/8 Siamese! Sawadee-ka!
5. I nearly got into a fight with a good friend when I was 8, just because she said that Santa does'nt exist. Mum have to tell me the truth when things got out of hand.. I was heartbroken...
6. Nearly everyone in my family (a whole lot of uncles, aunts and cousins) don't know my actual name. I'm known to them as Ah-Girl for far too long.
7. I was the one who chose my sister's name, Jolene. It was a toss between Jolene and Jasmine. Seeing her now, Jasmine is so not her..

7 Random Songs At The Moment
1. Everything In It's Time by Corrinne May.
2. I Want To Grow Old With You by Adam Sandler (our song!)
3. If I Ain't Got You by Alicia Keys.
4. Bad Day by Daniel Powter.
5. Home by Michael Buble.
6. Out Of My Mind by Fastball.
7. You Raise Me Up by Josh Groban.

7 Things I Like Most
1. My Fatty Piggy Tanny, otherwise known as hubby.
2. My Daddy, Mummy and Sister.
3. The TV.
4. Ribena.
5. Penang Laksa.
6. Snowglobes.
7. Holidays.

7 Things That Scare Me
1. Snakes.... Eeeks!!
2. Death - not mine but of those close to me..
3. Brinjals, Eggplants, Aubergines...
4. No TV.
5. No computer.
6. No electricity - Horrors!
7. Hubby's Acid Bomb ~~ Ewwww...

7 Things That I Say Most
1. Cough... cough... cough... (especially these past 2-3 days)
2. Darn!
3. Shut Up Makelele! Shut Up!! (Thanks to hubby's big influence).
4. Babu!!!!
5. I'm hungry...
6. Duh...
7. Fatty bom bom...

7 People To Do This
1. Jolene
2. Elmi
3. Edwin
4. Sandra
5. Anna
6. Dave
7. Jonathan

My Little Pony

Remember My Little Pony? The cartoon were shown in the tv in the 80's and like most other 80's cartoons, it made a revival these past few years. So naturally, the merchandise of these ponies can be found in every major toy stores here. These cute toy ponies garners many fans. My sister, is one of them...
Now... like most toys, every figurines have it's very own customized version by their fans... MLP are no exception...
A quick search through ebay came up with these:

Nice huh.. these don't come cheap... each costs an average of US$30 - $80. Jo, I'm a fan now... I'm going to get my hands on these babies... soon..

Our Home..

It's been a long time since I updated my blog. I've been busy... enjoying life.. living in our own home..
Hubby's been a bad influence, everyday you see him come home from work, have his dinner, then starts his nua-ing.. so naturally.. I'll be there nua-ing with him..
Anna's been a bad influence too.. when she's around, both of us will be glued to the tube watching Hong Kong drama serials..
Dave's been a bad influence... his laid back attitude makes you just wanna lay back and enjoy....
Therefore... boxes are still laying around the house.. stuffs and clothes still unpack even as I'm here typing...... yupz.. I'm enjoying staying in our very own home... It's been a great, the last one month.

Some updates on the house:

The dining hall.

Recognize this? The original shoe cabinet and seatee left by the previous owner. After some cleaning up and relaminate by yours truly, and lo and behold.. it looks as good as new and totally fits in the new interior. Umbrella stand's a gift from my mum.. umbrella collections are Giordano exclusives.. collected over the years by me and Anna... there would be more if I didn't loose an umbrella everytime I bring one out...

The before photo of the shoe cabinet.

My digital piano next to the dining table.

The hall and our new sofa set. Nobody spends any time at the hall at all for now.. Well, the tv's in the study. The computer's in the study, the x-box's in the study.. you get the picture.

So much for now. The rest of the places needs some cleaning up first. Will update soon.

We've some new additions to our family....

Introducing...

Hammy, Hammie and Hammi. Anna's babies. Cute.. but all they do is sleep, eat and run on the wheel.

Hammy....... (or Hammie.... or Hammi...) taking a break from his exercise.

And not forgetting:

Tanny (left) and Piggy. Hubby brings Tanny out and I'll bring Piggy. Tanny's so like Hubby.. lol..

Oh and an update on Hubby's sauerkraut. Read about it here. It's day 5 of the fermentation. It looks totally gross...

Living Amidst the Dust...

Gosh, I'm so tired. Sleeping on a 5cm thick mattress is really taking a toll on me. I'm a dead beat by 11pm every night and still felt like I've not slept when I wake up at 7am. I need a bed!!!!!
Aaron has already given up sleeping on his mattress and is now sleeping on two beanbags joined together. So now, I'm sleeping on two 5cm thick mattresses stacked together, and it's not any better. Oh well, 3 more days, just 3 more days, and the bed's arriving...
On with the updates:

The carpenters came last Thursday and Friday to fix up the the carpentries. So now, we have our feature wall, kitchen cabinet, study table, and bathroom cabinet in place.
We're happy with the result. The workmanship is actually good. And the thought that everything's gonna be over soon just feel so great!!
Thursday went rather well, the study table, wardrobe, and part of the kitchen was fix up in no time at all:

Our study table in the Mochi Room. It's now messy like nobody's business. Aaron and Dave immediately set up the desktop and the laptop as soon as the table is set up.

My wardrobe. It took some time getting over the so much white on the door. I expected less white and more dark brown. But I quite like it anyway.

The light switch on the side of the wardrobe.

On Friday, the feature wall, toilet cabinet and kitchen cabinet are completed. While fixing the feature wall, they drilled two big holes into my study!!!

The holes will be plastered up by the painters who's coming this thursday. Anna asked me how could I be so calm about it when I saw the holes. Well, I don't see the point to yell at the carpenters, things can't be helped when it has already happened. As long as they fix it up...

By the end of the day:

The feature wall in the living room.

The bathroom cabinet. Looks great huh...

And the kitchen cabinet... I simply love the colour!! Solid top's expected to be fix today.. will update on that again.

Yesterday, the carpenters came again to touch up on rest of the carpentries. Ah Teck, chief of the carpenters, were kind enough to fix up Anna's wardrobe and the mirror cabinet in bathroom:

The mirror cabinet is from Ikea. The length is exact the same as the wash basin.

Anna's pole system wardrobe. She initially bought a longer pole, but it couldn't fit into the wardrobe. Now she have a shorter one and more space.

Ah Teck fixed up the mirror for Anna as well. Notice the two holes on the left side of the mirror? Courtesy from Ah Teck... two more holes to be filled up.. lol.

Just realised I've yet to show the pictures of the shower screens in the bathrooms:

And also the dining lights...

Me and Anna chose this. It reminds us of Malt candies. The electrician had a big problem fixing this up. He broke two of the 'candies' even before it was fixed up. In the end we had to call the shop to have their electrician to replace the 'candies' and to fix up the lights.

We have a bad news too.. After much calculating, much to me and Aaron's dismay, we realised we couldn't afford our 42" plasma!!!! Mistake on my part. I've not anticipated all the bills that we need to clear and all the smaller stuffs to buy... yepz, we've overspent. We'll need to wait a couple of months more to buy the plasma now.. Haiz..

Aside from that, I think everything's going great.. When you think of the BIG picture.. not having the plasma... yet... is not such a big deal after all. We have a new house.. a place to call our own.. I'm counting my blessings for that...

Updates soon.. ciao..

At Long Last..

After this Friday, the renovations in our house is officially done. After the long long wait... YEAH!
Anyway, I've moved in since the 15th of last month... I'd like to officially thanks Aaron's good friends here - Andy, Ah 9, Faye and Dave for helping us to move our things to the new house. Thanks for being such a good sport, guys!
Well, anyway, the update on the new house:

After lighting and floors are done:

The hall and the dining area. We had a nice darker shade of brown at the dining area wall.

The study. We've christian this room the Mochi Room.. reason being that we chose the colour with inspiration from the Mochi IceCream we had in Sakae Sushi... lol

The masterbedroom.

Anna's room. Yepz.. we chose the same colour for our room.

The entrance to the master room bathroom. Nice bi-fold door eh..

Master room bathroom : The basin in place.

Our shower area. Everyone who've seen them so far loves the rough surface tiles.

Our new shower head set. Having some problem with the one in the master bathroom though. The head couldn't stay in place in it's holder. Still waiting for Asia Excel to change it for us.